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An article written by Willem Scholten & Jack E. Henningfield for the Journal of Pain & Palliative Care Pharmacotherapy.

By Dr Ashish Sharma who holds a MBBS, Diploma in Psychological Medicine (DPM) & Diplomate National Board (DNB) in Psychiatry degrees and Membership National Academy of Medical Science (MNAMS). He describes how the psychiatrist community is still in a state of shock with fear of getting prosecuted for treating addiction patients, resulting in decreased availability of OST using buprenorphine and even if available the doctor is continuously scrutinized due to the falsely proclaimed 'banned' nature of the drug.

For the past 3 years, the medical community has rallied to oppose attempts to place ketamine, a medicine that is indispensable for anesthesia and pain relief in many developing countries, under restrictive international controls.

This report seeks to explore a different approach to drug policy by setting out how we can move away from viewing drug use through an ideological lens and instead take an evidence-based approach aimed at improving and protecting the public’s health and wellbeing.

Written by Lynne Belle-Isle, PhD, for University of Victoria's "Matters of Substance Blog."

Text of a talk given by Alex Stevens, to the Canberra satellite of the 2016 conference of the International Society for the Study of Drug Policy.

Annual report from Harm Reduction International, an international non-governmental organisation that works to reduce drug-related harms by promoting evidence-based public health policy and practices, and human rights - based approaches to drug policy through an integrated programme of research, analysis, advocacy and civil society strengthening.

A graphic-rich report summarising the latest trends across Europe.

It is behind the walls of places of detention that international commitments by Governments to respect human rights are perhaps most regularly put to the test.

Some views on the outcomes; the actual outcomes document and a list of full statements delivered by member states during the UNGASS general debate.

Opioid overdose rates have risen to epidemic levels, underscoring the need for comprehensive treatment of opioid misuse.

Number of drug dependent adults up for first time in six years, now at 29 million says United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC.)

This bulletin presents data on drug-related hospital separations in Australia from 1993-2014 for the following drug types: opioids, cocaine, amphetamines and cannabis.

Odds of receiving any treatment were 36% lower for blacks and 33% lower for Latinos compared to non-Latino whites.

This op-ed was written by Dr. Ben Cook, Director of the Health Equity Research Lab and the Center for Multicultural Mental Health Research at Cambridge Health Alliance. It is part of Special Series on Disparities in the Experience and Treatment of Addiction at BASIS.

In this issue: 2016 EU Drug Markets Report | Monitoring illicit drugs in wastewater | UNGASS 2016 | Strengthening early warning on new synthetic opioids | New EMCDDA products and services | Upcoming ESPAD report | EMCDDA scientific paper award

The HCV Quest survey was designed to shine a spotlight on the experiences of patients around the world and to use insights from people living with the disease to drive awareness of the true burden of hepatitis C.

Kirsten Han, Singaporean journalist and activist, explains it is the poor who suffer in the war on drugs. She details how she became involved in campaigning against the death penalty, after seeing a 19 year old in the dock.

2016 is set to be a historic year for people living with and affected by HIV and people who use drugs. The UN High-Level Meeting on AIDS offers an opportunity to fast-track the response to ending the AIDS epidemic, including progressive approaches to drugs policy.

Updated Version - April 2016 Guidelines

Health, human rights and people who use drugs. UNAIDS 2016

New direct-acting antivirals have the potential to transform the hepatitis C (HCV) treatment landscape,with rates of sustained viral response in excess of 90%.

For more than fourteen years now, Washington has been pursuing a defined set of strategic objectives in Afghanistan. It has created and supported a client State on the standard model and imposed a specific and familiar economic regimen.

Important open access addition of International Journal of Drug Policy on Sub-Sahara Africa and how big a problem drug use and poor drug policies are, how these are affecting HIV epidemic in this area and some attempts at addressing this.

The New Zealand Drug Harm Index 2016 estimates the social cost of drug-related harms and intervention costs in 2014/15 as NZ$1.8 billion.

This report presents data on drug misuse deaths in England from 1999 to 2014. The Office for National Statistics reported a 17% increase in drug misuse deaths in England in 2014, following an increase of 21% in 2013.

Progress, potential and paradigm shifts.

In most analyses, injectable hydromorphone hydrochloride was not worse than diacetylmorphine hydrochloride to treat long-term severe opioid dependence and that could provide an alternative for patients where diacetylmorphine is unavailable due to political or regulatory reasons or for patients in whom it was unsuccessful, according to an article.

This systematic review assesses the effectiveness of take-home naloxone, with two aims: to study the impact of take-home naloxone distribution on overdose-related mortality; and to assess the safety of it in terms of adverse events.